Poker Stories: Jon Van Fleet

Poker Stories

Jonathan Van Fleet was one of original stars of the online poker boom, terrorizing opponents on the virtual tables under the name 'apestyles.' The Texas Tech graduate racked up millions in cashes and was one of the top-ranked MTT players, although his battles with addiction cost him his bankroll on more than a few occasions.

These days, however, the 39-year-old is once again on top of the online poker world. Van Fleet won the $5,000 buy-in partypoker Millions online in December of 2017 for more than $1 million. He has also done quite well in the $25,000 buy-in high roller events on GGPoker, cashing for several million along the way. According to PocketFives, he is now no. 4 on the online tournament all-time money list with $16.8 million behind just Sweden's Niklas Astedt, Hungary's Peter Traply, and the UK's Chris Moorman.

Highlights from this interview include online poker wake up calls, hot pink shoelaces, starting college in recovery, bluffing for beer, apologizing for sleeping, punting his bankroll to Ben Sulsky, the meaning behind his online poker name, what he didn't do with a million dollars, his GTO study group with Stephen Chidwick and Elio Fox, losing $400,000 in a day, swaps with Timex, Fred Savage as a kid, holding his breath, and a bad rendition of Stairway To Heaven.